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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
The daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha, was questioned last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is probing allegations of money laundering in the Delhi excise policy case.
Kavitha joined the ED investigation after being summoned by the agency. On Friday last week, while securing custody of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the ED informed a Delhi court that it had a statement from Butchibabu Gorantla, a Hyderabad-based chartered accountant and an accused in the case, that “there was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia”.
Sisodia was arrested last month by the CBI which is also probing the case. The CBI had recorded Kavitha’s statement in December last year at her Hyderabad residence.
On March 8, the ED summoned Kavitha, asking her to join the probe on March 9 – a day after arresting Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai in connection with alleged irregularities and corruption in the now-scrapped Delhi Liquor Policy. During her questioning, ED officers confronted Kavitha with the purported disclosures made by Pillai.
Pillai is an accused in the case and allegedly worked as a frontman for KCR’s daughter K Kavitha at a company. In November 2022, Kavitha was named by ED officials in a court filing over its investigations into the Delhi liquor scam.
The ED had named Kavitha in the case chargesheet, accusing her of holding a 65 percent stake in Indo Spirits, a liquor company. In December 2022, she was questioned by the agency at her Hyderabad home.
According to the ED, Aam Aadmi Party communication in-charge Vijay Nair, acting on behalf of the party’s leaders, “received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from a group, for convenience, we may call it the South Group (as termed in the statements of various persons recorded during the investigation)”.
The ED has claimed that members of the ‘’South Group’’ paid bribes to exploit loopholes in the excise policy to secure uninhibited access to wholesale businesses and retail zones in violation of rules.
The ED has alleged that Kavitha is a prominent member of the South Group. Others in the Group, according to the ED, are Raghav Magunta, son of Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, YSRCP Lok Sabha MP from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh; and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, son of P V Ramprasad Reddy, founder of Hyderabad- based Aurobindo Pharma.
“The South Group was represented by Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, and Butchibabu Gorantla. Abhishek facilitated the transfer of Rs 100 crore kickback in connivance and conspiracy with Vijay Nair and his associate Dinesh Arora’’, as per the ED claims.
Pillai, in his statement to the ED, had earlier said there was a deal between K Kavitha, MLC, Telangana, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wherein in exchange for kickbacks paid to the tune of Rs 100 crore, K Kavitha got access to the Delhi liquor business, specifically stakes in Indo Spirits.
Pillai mentioned that he represented Kavitha, in the firm, Indo Spirit, adding that he became a partner on her behalf and arranged the funds for the investment that was required on paper to become a partner.
As his ED custody ended on Monday, investigators produced Pillai before the court, and he was remanded to judicial custody.
During her last session, the ED grilled Kavitha for over 10 hours. The agency summoned Kavitha again for further questioning on Tuesday. Earlier on March 11 ED had questioned Kavitha for nine hours. The ED asked her questions regarding the WhatsApp messages and her meetings in Delhi and Hyderabad.
The key accusation is that Kavitha, as part of South Lobby, conspired with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia and others in formulating the Delhi excise policy, and she allegedly held benami investments in tainted company Indo Spirits. These companies benefited due to the policy.
The ED questioned her regarding the alleged exchange of 100 crores in the scam and the movement of money. The ED also served notices to YSRC MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy to appear before the agency on Tuesday.
Last month, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in connection with the liquor sales policy.
Under the policy, the government no longer had anything to do with selling liquor and allowed only private shops to do so. The aim was to stop black marketing, increase revenue and improve the consumer experience.
The policy also allowed the home delivery of liquor and shops to stay open till 3 am. Licensees could also offer unlimited discounts.
The policy soon ran into trouble. First with the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, and then with Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
Citing a report from Delhi’s top bureaucrat which accused Mr. Sisodia of bending rules and providing undue benefits to liquor vend licensees, LG Saxena asked for a CBI probe.
The ED has alleged that 32 suspects, including politicians like K Kavitha, Manish Sisodia, and Kailash Gehlot changed and destroyed 170 phones according to International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number analysis. Kavitha is accused of changing 10 phones.
The new Excise Policy of the Delhi government was scrapped after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI investigation into the matter.
The ED widened the scope of the probe, going as far as to implicate the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. ED claims that the policy has caused a ₹ 2,800 crore loss to the government.
The AAP has dismissed all charges and said the investigation is the BJP’s attempt to settle political scores.
Kavitha has called the ED’s summons a political witch hunt and said, “Dirty politics is being played in the name of investigation. I have reiterated several times that I have nothing to do with the liquor case or the investigation’’.
